00:00:05 John Daub: Hey everybody! Welcome to Mos Burger right now. This is the time of year where they have the Tsukimi burgers out. It's a burger with an egg on top. And this one just popped up on social media. This is the, I guess you could say, Tsukimi Focaccia burger. It's for the Harvest Moon. Check it out. Look at this thing. Look at the cover. Look at the gooey egg coming out of it. Oh my gosh. That is the way you do it.

00:00:38 John Daub: Ah, look at that. This is right on the street. I bet you this is getting a ton of people to come in and just try this. And guess what? I have it right here in a bag. And I also got the one from McDonald's. And I'm going to be trying that as well right here on the street. I'm going to turn these burgers into street food. Mos Burger is like a really well done Japanese fast food restaurant. The burger industry is interesting because we've come up with these high-end burgers where you're paying like between $12 and $20 for a burger, right? Well, this is sort of mid-range. And this is what Mos Burger has been hurt with. There's the cheap burgers at McDonald's. And now Kentucky Fried Chicken also has its Tsukimi burger with chicken, I think, and Burger King. These are maybe a little bit cheaper. Mos Burger is a little bit pricier. Just a tad bit. They might put them at mid-end, I guess. So it's harder for them to sell burgers.

00:01:38 John Daub: We're doing this at an elevation. All right. So I've got two bags here. One of them is McDonald's. And one of them is the Tsukimi burger from Mos Burger. And we're going to start off with the McDonald's. Why? Because I think we need a point of reference. McDonald's is the original. The Tsukimi burger, I believe, originated at McDonald's. And as far as I can remember, and I came here in 1998, almost 25 years ago, they've had the Tsukimi burger here.

00:02:12 John Daub: This is the Tsukimi Sukiyaki burger. This is sort of next level kind of Mos Burger, McDonald's here. Because Sukiyaki (simmered beef hot pot) is like this really expensive, I think of it as being like a premium type of Japanese cuisine. To match that up with the all beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese. Now, this isn't a Big Mac, but it's still pretty good. I think it's going to be an interesting thing. Here's the front of it. It says here Tsukimi Sukiyaki burger. You can smell it through the wrapper. Actually, it smells like buttered buns. Bacon and butter. McDonald's in Japan has just gone like a step up and gotten so much better.

00:02:58 John Daub: Here, let's open this up. Whoa. I almost never eat McDonald's. Look at this. This is like one of those potato buns. You remember this? Really thick, heavy bread. Just soaks up the goodness, kind of a mochi mochi (chewy), springy consistency to it. Oh my gosh. Oh, we got to do front lens on this thing here. Look at that. Look at the gooeyness and that Sukiyaki just dripping down the side onto my hand, onto the bag and onto the street eventually. Oh man. And but it's all about that right there. The egg.

00:03:54 John Daub: One of the things I think it's good to have this at an elevated angle is check it out here. You can see what made this so famous. There is this egg on top of the burger. And before I came to Japan, I never had a burger with an egg on it like this. Not at McDonald's. We had, I think like Egg McMuffins and stuff, but I never had like a burger with it. And it was like this weird concept. It's like, why doesn't America do this? Yeah. Why doesn't America do this? All right. Itadakimasu (let's eat). That's so good. McDonald's. How dare you McDonald's? You actually made something that I would love.

00:04:31 John Daub: Sukiyaki is, so you would take like a Wagyu or beef. You kind of cook it in a sweet soy sauce and then you'll take it and dip it in raw egg. So it is gooey egg burger, but it's just like a different kind of gooey. And that bacon. Oh man. That's dynamite. Mos Burger. I don't know how you're going to be able to compete with that. Can they even, why even try?

00:05:25 John Daub: Mos Burger's is, it's not a burger. It's a focaccia, which is a special kind of a bread. They've taken a sausage and an onsen tamago (hot spring egg) kind of looking thing. When you cut it, it oozes. What? I got to bring you down here. I have to bring you down here. Hold on. I can't lift this up. Here. Oh, look at that. Look at that. Do you see that? The egg there, but it spilled up. So this is supposed to be between the sausage. Right. And look at the sausage. And the focaccia is like this bread that they wrap around. Kind of like a wrap. Almost like a gyro.

00:06:42 John Daub: Hey, Bradshaw studios in the house. How you doing? I think I need a fork to eat this. It's kind of sloppy. Alright, come over here. I think I can do it like this. Hold on. Hold on. Alright, it's so much better when it's live. I think I can do this. This is not street food. This is beyond. This is next level. It's got like a plastic bag on it. Alright. Okay, the only thing I can do is just try that egg there. It escaped. There it is. What? Oh, that's gooey. Oh my gosh.

00:07:57 John Daub: Alright, we can go front lens now. Oh my gosh. Oh, it's like all escaping. Look at that. That's nastiness. It's beautiful. Who comes up with these ideas and how do they mass produce it? Look at that. Whoa, just exploded. Beautiful and scrumptious. Alright, let's get some with the sauce and the sausage. And there is some. There's some vegetables in here. Some cabbage and some green lettuce. It's not like that iceberg stuff. It's real.

00:08:51 John Daub: This is like a long Japanese arabiki (coarsely ground) wiener. These are like these hot dogs that they have, but they're different than hot dogs that we know them. They're juicy. Like they found a way when you bite into it, it's crispy. And there's a juice explosion from the sausage or the wiener. That's what this is. And there's a slight charcoal taste, which is probably chemically enhanced. But yeah, you can't get around that egg right there. And if you've never had Japanese raw eggs before, they just, they're just safer here because they don't.

00:09:28 John Daub: One of the reasons the US eggs are not as safe is because they use a chemical to clean the outside of it that thins the shell so that the bacteria afterwards can get into it. I don't know why they still do that, but I guess there's two ways to see it. They don't really refrigerate the eggs here. And as I traveled the world, I noticed that a lot of countries don't refrigerate the eggs just in the US, which gives it a longer shelf life. So I'm considering doing an episode on just the eggs, but this is incredible. Oh man, the focaccia is really good. This bread. I don't think I've ever said the word focaccia until I came to Japan. It's like one of those snobby breads or something. We had Wonder Bread when I was a kid. Pita bread too. And the egg is gone. Two bites. But that sausage lives forever.

00:10:34 John Daub: They've found a way to wrap the sausage around the focaccia. I think you have to open it up, but it's kind of nasty. You can't do it on the street. You have to go and sit down, but I don't have a permit to film inside, so that's kind of rude to do. Much better on the street. A lot of people will come and say hi to you on the street. All in all, man, it is a really, really tough one. This one's going to be at the Mos Burger, I think, until the end of maybe the end of November. And the Tsukimi Burger McDonald's usually until they're sold out or, I don't know, roughly in the middle of October. And then they're thinking of the next new thing.

00:11:31 John Daub: Usually when September 1st hits in Japan, we have all the summer stuff goes away despite it being super hot. And right now it's like I wish I was at the beach, but summer's done. Doesn't matter. September 1st, Halloween stuff comes out. It's like magic all over the city. The supermarkets have Halloween goodies, and it's not even really Halloween goodies. They just put Halloween marketing labels on it. Ghosts, witches make it black and orange. Doesn't matter if it tastes like pumpkin or not. This is just a Japanese way to market. Kind of changes the season, makes a little exciting. And they get that out and they stop producing the Halloween stuff on like October 10th, and then just the remainders go. So by Halloween, if you're looking for trick or treat candy, it's probably all gone because they know that they don't want leftovers after October 31st. So it all goes to Ameyoko (market district) for wholesale stuff, like just to get rid of it before the expiration date.

00:12:32 John Daub: But man, man, I'm going to stay here. I got this as a set and I'm just going to take it home to eat it because it's a little odd to eat on the street. But I'm going to say right now that McDonald's wins this. Based on experience, the burger, there's a really amazing umami kind of a delicious mix of the egg and the beef and then the sukiyaki, the raw gooeyness of it that you get with the Mos Burger one. You get that with the McDonald's as well. But there's another element to it. There's that bacon. You put bacon on it, it's like an instant win. Almost. Because you can even ruin the bacon. That's what people pay. Like an extra, they'll add another 30% just for a piece of bacon, which costs not that much. It's so good. Same with avocado, right? You put an avocado, it's like an instant win.

00:13:43 John Daub: So they have these robots walking the street. They're like self-guiding robots. Japan is in the future. But McDonald's not just, oh, that's cute. Look, hey guys, look at this. Twins. Were you watching me eat the burgers? I'm sorry. I don't have any for you. We got robots and twin dogs. Japan's like one of those places. It keeps you on your toes. I'm glad that we started this live stream a little early because there's, it's starting to line up outside the door. Look at this. There's a, Mos Burger's slower than McDonald's, like way slower. The reason why is because they cook to order. And I think McDonald's is starting to do that. Look, whoa. They got those souffle pancakes at Mos Burger as well. What? I'm going to have to come back for that. Oh, I haven't had those yet. The souffle pancakes in Japan. It's supposed to be really famous.

00:14:55 John Daub: I don't know how it became a Japanese thing, pancakes. But they find a way to innovate here in Japan. And inside you can see the menu is pretty much dominated by the Tsukimi burger. As I said, which is the harvest moon, right? And that's, I believe in October, that harvest moon. That's when they harvest the rice. Inekari (rice harvesting). And I suppose to symbolize that, but you know, it's not, it doesn't really happen. It's just a burger time now. A lot of people don't harvest the rice. Although there are more and more tours going out to the countryside to harvest rice. Gosh, that set looks good. You eat a burger, you stick around for dessert. I would be okay.

00:15:35 John Daub: Here's the, here's one more, one more go through with the ad for the Tsukimi burger. I got this one, which is like the Akitoku set. So it comes with the edamame corn fry. And I didn't eat that yet. The edamame corn fry. I guess there's a Sailor Moon element to it as well. I'm not sure. I'm not into the Sailor Moon, but I can tell you this. I once taught one of the original cast members of the Sailor Moon English and she was really cute and she spoke English with a really cute voice. That was fun to teach. Yeah. A radio DJ in one of the Tokyo radio stations too and was throwing in English into it so it was a real delight. This is like 12, 13 years ago now. Really delighted to teach her.

00:16:33 John Daub: I was teaching at this school called Gaba in Ginza and they had this VIP room where customers would pay double the price or something. It was so expensive to start off with. But somehow, I got into all of their advertisements and became their poster boy and was on their podcast, video podcast, which was very popular at the time. And the CEO of the company kept recommending to his friends my lessons. Like all CEOs, models, actors and actresses and we'd have this secret back VIP room and the amount of, the number of people that I taught English that were like, wow, like I've seen you before, kind of a feeling. So I don't get shell shocked when I see an actor or actress anymore because that's unprofessional. I remember a big movie star came in and said, I know you and couldn't speak any English whatsoever so we had to do a basic lesson. I can't tell you the name because it might be embarrassing but it was a fun lesson and he came back and took the lesson for two more years and then I left. You can't do English teaching job for very long. It's not a career. Unless you own the business.

00:17:52 John Daub: I bet you 7-Eleven has its Tsukimi Burger too. I got so many stories I could tell you that will blow your mind. The great thing about living as an expat in Japan, at the time when I started, when there were few foreigners, well fewer foreigners, because there's always someone who's been here longer, is that you're open up to so many other opportunities that I guess you just walk through these weird doors that you never would have thought there were. I just lived at home and I guess being in an unusual country so far away has really enlightened me in ways I never thought was possible. I didn't have a lot of confidence before I came to Japan. I didn't have a lot of, I mean I did a lot of stuff when I was in college and I thought I was a pretty good student at the end of it but I never really thought that I could do what I'm doing. Right? I was really shy.

00:19:00 John Daub: So I don't know. I think in general when you come to Japan and you're like this really unique force that's different than everybody else, you're put in a spot where you have to, you either love it or you hate it and you take advantage of the fact that people are, they think you're special and you start to feel special too and you feel like you can do things that maybe you couldn't be able to do. So it made me realize that, now that I'm getting up there, a lot of the stuff that we put up these walls, they're all mental and they're all on us. When really, if you think about it, you probably could do just about anything but we all come up with excuses not to do it. And Japan was this thing that despite the fact that maybe people here who live here have these walls and they live in bubbles, I do not and I get to take advantage of the amazing things around me. And people are saying kind of telling me how great I am with using chopsticks and always encouraging to my face. It just makes you think that you have more, there's more to you than you think there is but there always was. And I think for a lot of you, I hope that's some kind of encouragement because I didn't see it. I was just this normal guy. I don't think if I stayed home in the US, I probably wouldn't amount to much. I don't know what I would be doing. And then I came here. Things changed.

00:20:34 John Daub: So I'm eating a burger on the street. Wouldn't do that in America. Well, yeah, I would. That's weird. It's a hard thing to look back in time and think about what you would have and wouldn't have done. Okay, guys, I'm going to walk back to the station and head back home. I got some videos to edit. I just put up a new reels on Instagram and a new shorts. I'll be taking some of the old content and putting that in a new format, which I can do because I have all these archives going back 10 years. And kind of retell this story. Go check it out. It's a one on this super small sushi. It's 1/300 the size of normal sushi. And you can see it on the new Only in Japan channel. Kind of recycled content, but in a new way, you can take old footage and rebrand it in a new way. And shorts is a new format. So let her rip. Thanks, everybody.

00:21:35 John Daub: I'm going to go get a melon pan (melon-shaped sweet bun). One of my favorite melon pans. Fun shops is on the Monja Street (okonomiyaki street). This is Tsukishima. If you have any questions, you can leave a comment below. I'm really, really thankful. I might meet with Peter von Gomm in a few hours. There's the Belgian Beer Festival, which just opened up on the river, which is about a 10, 15 minute bicycle ride for me. Beautiful spot. I think I've taken you there. The bike path around Tsukiji Market moved to Toyosu. So around the Toyosu area, they're doing the Belgian Beer Garden there for the first time, I think. And I can go ride there. My friend is one of the organizers, so maybe he'll hook us up. Maybe not. It's like $30 or something to start off with a glass or whatever, but that should be a lot of fun. So maybe Peter and I will be back in a few hours. If not, maybe we'll go back in another day, too, with Kanae Daub and Leo. Especially if it's a beautiful sunny day like today, and you have blue skies. Look at that. Might be another reason to go have a drink on the river. Just one. I'm cutting down on everything. I've got to get back into shape for the long haul now.

00:22:51 John Daub: All right, take care, everybody. Thanks for joining me. Hey, Serious Joker. Thanks for that. I'll put that towards an evening nightcap here. Thanks for joining me on this amazing gooey burger adventure. I hope that you enjoyed it. And see you again real soon. Weekend is coming up. Yeah, I am kind of thirsty. Oh, wait. There's a drink in the bag. I guess I'll have that back at home. See you guys.